


Keep It Professional

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic [79]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, First Meetings, First Time, M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 14:30:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7175687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>LJ Comment Fic for Free For All prompt: <i>Stargate Multiverse, Any, Hospital AU.</i></p><p>In which Rodney is on the hunt for a new doctor for his practice, and John Sheppard fits the bill. If only he'd say yes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep It Professional

Rodney wanted John Sheppard. Not in the sexual round-robin way that most medical shows portrayed relationships between doctors, though he couldn’t deny that Sheppard was easy on the eyes. No, Rodney wanted him for his medical practice, and for that he was willing to do almost anything.

“You want to take me out to dinner?” Sheppard did something acrobatic with his eyebrow. “Like a date?”

“No, not like a date.” Rodney scowled. “Like two professional people out eating a meal.”

Not that Sheppard looked all that professional. He was wearing jeans and a black scrub top with fighter planes on it, and his stethoscope had blinking lights. He also suffered from some pretty serious cowlicks.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? Maybe I enjoy your company.”

“You don’t enjoy anyone’s company,” Sheppard said with a smirk. 

A nurse appeared at Sheppard’s elbow. “Dr. Sheppard, your two o’clock is in room five.”

“Gotta go, McKay.”

Rodney sighed. He picked his way back through a waiting room full of sick kids with runny noses and sticky hands, and had to question his own interest in having pediatric care as part of AMG. He wasn’t overly fond of kids.

*o*o*o*

Rodney knew everyone called him Dr. House behind his back. Which, whatever. As long as it helped motivate them to do their jobs, he was fine with it. He was the top diagnostician in his field, which meant he was never lacking for work. Between AMG, hospital rotations, and requests for consultation from around the country, he kept busy.

His priority, of course, was Atlantis Medical Group, and turning it into a comprehensive community-based health center. The focus at AMG was on the patient, and not so much on shuffling them through just to get the billables. Rodney wasn’t known for being much of a people-person, but he could recognize what people wanted in an ideal health-care situation.

“Stop poaching my doctors,” Elizabeth said.

She’d tracked Rodney down in his ancillary office at the hospital. He was working on a particularly difficult case, and he was concerned the patient would die before he could figure out what was killing her.

“I’m not poaching anyone.” Rodney continued to input symptoms into his laptop, looking for a common thread.

“I’ve had no fewer than five nurses tell me you’ve been trying to wine and dine Dr. Sheppard.”

Elizabeth was the hospital’s administrator, the kind of person who was always poised and elegant and irritatingly unflappable. Rodney wasn’t surprised that the nurses had gone running to her like little tattletales; everyone loved Elizabeth.

“Professional interest,” Rodney said. “Hmm. Liver failure makes no sense here.”

“Are you working on the Dilman case?”

“I would be, if people weren’t bothering me.” Rodney gave Elizabeth a pointed look.

“Stay away from Dr. Sheppard. I want to keep this one.”

Rodney waved her away. As if he could make Sheppard do anything.

*o*o*o*

“Maybe you should look for someone else,” Teyla suggested. She was a Certified Professional Midwife, and one of Rodney’s very first partners in the practice. She was annoyingly level-headed.

“No, he’s the right one. Trust me on this. He’s just what we need.”

Rodney and all his partners were ranged around the conference room table for the weekly staff meeting. It was early, and so there were plates of bagels and pastries, and a bowl of freshly-cut citrus-free fruit. Rodney had helped himself to a bit of everything, plus his oversized mug of coffee.

“I’ve seen him at the gym. He’s yummy.”

Vala was Teyla’s contribution to the AMG. Rodney wasn’t convinced that anything she did was actual medicine, since she specialized in reiki, acupuncture and homeopathic treatments. She was often inappropriate, but Vala had a wide-eyed optimism that patients seemed to respond to. She had a very dedicated group of regular clients, and her stall was always the most popular at the health fairs.

“Please don’t refer to people as ‘yummy’,” Rodney said. “We’ve been talking about branching out into Peds, and he’s our guy.”

“We should meet him.” Ronon was a big guy with tats and dreadlocks, and Rodney had snapped him up after being referred to Ronon for physical therapy when he damaged his rotator cuff.

“Perhaps you should be more direct,” Teyla suggested. “Tell him you want him to join us, have him come by and take a tour.”

“But let me know what day, so I can freshen up.” Vala ran her fingers through one of her curly ponytails. She was like an overgrown child.

The conference room door burst open and Carson came in, looking disheveled. There was a coffee stain on his blue shirt. 

“Seven o’clock, Carson,” Rodney snapped. “Same time every week.”

“I overslept.”

“So things are going well with Laura?” Teyla asked, a gleam in her eye.

Carson blushed and slipped into his usual chair. “What are we on about, then?”

“Peds,” Ronon said.

“I’m not repeating myself just because you’re having too much sex to get out of bed on time,” Rodney said sourly.

“He can’t close the deal,” Vala offered.

“I can close! I’ll close!” But for the first time Rodney wasn’t sure. John Sheppard was a tough nut to crack.

“Okay, it’s my turn.” Vala slapped both hands on the table. “Let’s talk chiropractics!”

*o*o*o*

“Dr. McKay. You must really love kids.”

“I really don’t,” Rodney replied. “Don’t you ever go the cafeteria? Or the bathroom?”

Sheppard huffed out a laugh. “We have our own bathrooms.”

“Look, enough beating around the bush. I want you.” Okay, that came out wrong. Rodney could feel himself flushing as both of Sheppard’s eyebrows climbed up to his hairline. “No, not…I want you to join Atlantic Medical Group. We’re looking to branch out into Pediatrics, and if you sign on as a partner you could hire your own staff. Plus we have excellent medical benefits, ten times better than what you’re getting here.”

“I already have a job.” Sheppard snagged a lollipop from the jar on the nurses’ station counter, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth. Great. Just what he needed. Another adult child to add to AMG.

“Yes, but I’m offering you a better one. Come down, check us out.”

Sheppard gave Rodney a very obvious once over, lips curling around the lollipop stick. “Maybe I will.”

“Oh. Well. Uh…just text me when you want to stop by.” He rattled off his cell number and waited for Sheppard to write it down or put it in his phone. He didn’t do either. “Do you need that again?”

“No. I got it.” Sheppard tapped his finger to his temple. “I’m good with numbers.”

“Right. Sure.” Rodney knew a dismissal when he heard one. Sheppard wouldn’t call.

“Here.” Sheppard fished out another lollipop and handed it to him. 

“I’m not a child,” Rodney snapped. He snatched the lollipop out of Sheppard’s hand and stormed out.

*o*o*o*

Much to Rodney’s surprise, Sheppard _did_ call him. He arranged to spend the day at AMG, spending time in each office, including reception and Carson’s testing lab. Rodney had to resist the urge to shadow him, make sure he was getting the right impression of his partners and their staff.

Sheppard reportedly chatted with patients, flirted with the pharma rep, and generally charmed the entirety of AMG. Rodney caught up with him at the end of the day, to show him around the empty space that would be Pediatrics.

“As you can see, there’s ample space for examination rooms, a large waiting area, and offices. Even those private bathrooms you seem to like so much.” Rodney gestured expansively. “I can promise you top of the line equipment, and access to the finest testing lab in the state.”

“And how much autonomy would I have?” Sheppard asked. He was looking around with a speculative eye that gave Rodney hope he would take the job.

“Almost total. The partners vote on any big changes, but the day-to-day operation would be fully on you.”

“Perks?”

Rodney wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard an innuendo in that one-word question. It flustered him.

“Yes. Well. Uh…I…”

“Can I have a couple days to decide?” Sheppard asked, putting him out of his misery.

“Of course. Just keep in mind that this is the best offer you’re likely to get, and you’d be stupid to say no.”

“No pressure.” Sheppard smirked. “I’ll get back to you.”

Rodney watched him leave, and hoped that he was looking at his new partner. In the business sense only, because one thing he insisted on at AMG was that the staff refrained from the kind of fraternization that the public seemed to expect from health-care workers.

He insisted on professionalism.

*o*o*o*

Rodney wanted John Sheppard, in a naked, flesh-on-flesh kind of way.

He’d tried to ignore Sheppard, tried to suppress the inconvenient feelings when they bubbled up, but it was to no avail. Ever since Sheppard had joined AMG, he’d gotten under Rodney’s skin. He was pleasant, and charming, and brought a lot of families with him when he moved from the hospital. People liked him. Rodney liked him.

Despite his popularity, Sheppard didn’t seem to get close to anyone. He kept late hours, he volunteered at the free clinic on weekends, and he always politely turned down offers to get together for drinks with the partners after work.

Rodney had seen him with the kids, though. When Sheppard was seeing one of his patients, there were high-fives and fist bumps and hugs, and it was easy to see why he’d gotten into Pediatrics. He truly cared about each and every one of those kids. Rodney didn’t get along with kids that well himself, but he could see that Sheppard would make an excellent father. With his looks, it was a wonder he wasn’t already married with a brood of spiky-haired children.

“You’re pretty good at that,” Sheppard said.

Rodney jumped, his heart racing. He’d stayed after hours to work on a diagnosis for a patient in Utah, and had thought everyone had gone home.

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“I know a good cardiac guy.” Sheppard was leaning in the doorway in that loose-limbed way he had that was distractingly sexy. “You save a lot of lives.”

“I’m a genius,” Rodney said. He wasn’t boasting. 

“Why do you do it? Instead of brain surgery or something?”

No-one had ever asked Rodney that before. He leaned back in his chair. “I don’t have much of a bedside manner, I guess. And frankly I’m not big on cutting into people.”

Sheppard smirked. “You must’ve been a big hit on rotations.”

“I was smarter than everyone else. I just found the best application for it.” Rodney studied John, who was wearing race car scrubs. “Why’d you choose Peds?”

Sheppard’s whole expression dimmed, and Rodney thought he might not answer.

“My brother,” Sheppard said after a long pause. “He got sick, when he was seven. The doctor brushed it off, said it was just the flu. By the time the right diagnosis came in, it was too late. The treatments didn’t work. He died.”

“What was it?” Rodney asked, not even aware his voice was hushed.

“Acute promyelocytic leukemia.” Sheppard was staring at his feet. “If he’d had a different doctor, maybe he’d still be alive.”

Rodney nodded. “That’s part of the reason I started AMG. I want my doctors to be able to spend time with their patients, and not feel rushed to make a diagnosis.”

“You’re a good doctor.”

“Yes, I am,” Rodney agreed. He didn’t need anyone’s approval, but that didn’t stop the warm feeling that spread through him hearing it from Sheppard.

“And incredibly modest, too,” Sheppard chuckled. “Listen. Once you’re done with that, you want to maybe go out and get something to eat?”

“Oh. Uh, yeah. Just wrapping this up, actually.”

“Great. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

Rodney absolutely did not rush to finish his email.

*o*o*o*

Rodney’s chest heaved with exertion, his heart racing. If the lights had been on he’d be staring at the ceiling, like he sometimes did when he couldn’t sleep.

“I’m having a heart attack,” he gasped. “You’ve killed me.”

Sheppard whapped him with one mostly-limp arm. “Killed me first.”

Rodney was in no shape to argue. He should’ve known John would be crazy flexible in bed, though he suspected the other man had been showing off. Surely it wouldn’t be like that _every_ time.

“Knew there’d be perks,” Sheppard said. He recovered enough to prop himself up on one elbow, and the look on his face, illuminated by the light filtering in the bedroom window, was surprisingly affectionate. It made Rodney’s heart beat even faster.

“Well, just for the really exceptional employees,” Rodney teased.

Sheppard slung his leg over Rodney’s, and leaned down to kiss him, soft and slow. “I expect a good evaluation at the end of the year.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Rodney pulled John on top of him, reveling in the feel of skin on skin, and the stickiness of Sheppard’s earlier completion. It had been a long time since he’d been with someone, longer still someone as energetic as Sheppard. 

“If you’re looking for round two, I’m gonna need some time.” Sheppard nibbled his way up Rodney’s jaw. “And maybe a sandwich.”

“I’ve got something you can eat,” Rodney said, trying out some dirty talk. He knew he wasn’t great at it, but he wasn’t expecting John to start laughing like some kind of honking Muppet. “Are you having a seizure?”

“Not yet.” But the next kiss, and the way John was moving his hips, was full of promise.

Best hiring decision ever.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** So, when I was visiting my mom in Florida this year, we drove through a town called Atlantis. It was like an SGA AU breeding ground: Atlantis Garage, Atlantis City Hall, Atlantis Country Club, Atlantis Realty. And Atlantis Medical Group. I jotted down notes, and put it aside until this prompt showed up.


End file.
